Hey party people! I hope you’re all having nice little Fridays wherever you are. Memorial Day weekend fast approaches, and I’m sure you’re psyched to get out of the office and into a boat/bar/your lover’s arms/what have you. But before you do, you might be interested to see what I’ve gathered up this week… (:

As I write this post, I’m trying to time the exit of a huge fly with the opening of my screen door. 3 failed attempts. Fly concussion imminent. But it’s his fault, because he needs to give me a warning or something, instead of repeatedly popping out of the woodwork, bee-lining it and then slamming face-first into the screen, all in one fell swoop. Each time, it’s like I never had a chance! And I haven’t even mentioned that I was sitting in the sun during lunchtime, so my legs are hot and they’re sticking to the faux leather of my work chair each time I get up to assist the fly in his great escape. So that hurts.

Quick Fab Find break before I continue complaining ~ this I found on one of my regular trips to check out Sarah Yates‘ work:

How much do you LOVE those bouquets?!! How much? Seriously, I’m asking.

By the way, I’m bumming a little bit because one of those really tiny red bugs somehow got into my iMac and has been aimlessly jetting around ALL OVER THE INSIDE OF MY SCREEN. Apparently, there’s a space between the graphics that show up on your computer and the area where BUGS CAN WALK AROUND. He’s existing in that purgatory, and at this very moment heading straight for where I’m typing. It’s really weird/annoying/cool/sad. Like Fantastic Voyage meets A Bug’s Life. My main concern at this point is that he doesn’t drag any bug poop around the inside of my screen. I haven’t yet had a chance to think of the long-term effects of his strolls on my eyes and temper. This is harsh, but I hope he either finds the exit soon, or dies in one of the corners.

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Moving on… I found some pretty amazing stuff recently, and I am more excited than usual to share it all with you. But first, have you seen my Style Me Pretty guest post this week? It’s not your typical affair, not by a long shot. In fact, it’s kind of the cutest thing ever; the design is completely devoted to the way the groom met his bride. It’s a BASEBALL THEME WEDDING, by Amorology!!! Here’s one board, of many:

Obsessed with this bride and her sassypants headpiece made by Erin Cole, which and who I discovered while visiting my good friend Abby’s lovely blog, Life in the Super Burbs! This wedding has it all; beautiful people, Southern charm, exquisite lighting, amazing details and, what I consider the best part of all, it was shot by the ladies of SimplyBloom. Which, of course, means guaranteed photo perfection. Ok, headpiece time!

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LOVE this from my girl holdin’ it down in far away Portugal… the crazy awesome Sofia of Brancoprata!

It’s no secret how much I love the Wedding Chicks and what they bring to the community every single day out here in wedding bloggerland. No exception with this baby! I am seriously LOVING this e-session they featured; it was inspired by one of my fave animated movies, UP!

By the way, the dress is from Anthro – remember when I featured it? Still in love.

By the by, the bug inside my screen is now fretting horribly, and bouncing around the bottom the way those little balls bounce on words in a song on TV so kids can follow along. You know what I’m talking about? He’s trying for an exit every millisecond along the bottom, and it looks exactly like he’s trying to help me sing a song with the right cadence. Gosh this is really sad for him. But seriously he needs to get the eff outta my screen.

Kisses!

-SupercALIfragilisticexpialidocious

P.S. – anyone have any interesting plans for the weekend? I do, but they’re secret. MUHAHHAAHAH.

Hope you’re having a decent Friday so far! (I’m sure that depends entirely upon the time of day you are reading this.) In any case, let’s get started, shall we?

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So, today’s first Fab Find comes from Christine and Vania, the fab duo of SimplyBloom. I don’t think it’s possible for these ladies to produce anything less than perfection. Would you agree? I mean, just look at this image:

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Now, I am interrupting this installment of Friday’s Fab Finds to bring you a quick bit of titillating info before we move on… As many of you know, I went a little insane with a bucket of Nutella recently. See: this post, and my Twitter feed on that day (which I will NOT link to because it is craziness). Well, based on our brief white chocolate love affair and its aftereffects, I have a newsflash. However, please note that this is by no means based on scientific data of any sort. Only my personal experience. My personal, fantastic experience. But I say with certain confidence – both in the truth of this, and a different, new-found confidence I remember having in college – that Nutella makes your two friends to the north larger. By two cup sizes, to be precise. There, I said it. I feel the need, however, to warn you not to overindulge unless you are willing to accept that this effect may be singular to me. To my lucky freaking a$$. Aaaaand now that I’ve bragged I’m sure they will go away soon. Well, I’m not sure, but most good things do, so I’m basing that assumption off of experience. Like when they took away my favorite flavor of Progresso soup. Or the time they discontinued my favorite flavor of Wishbone salad dressing. WHY DO THEY DO THIS ALL THE TIME? Am I alone in this pain? Me and my heaving bosom?

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Next up, the freebie you’ve all been hearing about… Complimentary tickets for readers of The Knotty Bride from the fabulous ladies of The Wedding Salon!!! I know! How great is this?! The event is Monday, May 3, 2010 at The London West Hollywood. To grab yourself these free tickets, just click here, then click “Register for this Event” and use promo code: KBLAC – that’s it! Woot! The ladies of Wedding Salon put on spectacular events, and my friends and I always have loads of fun. You do not want to miss this, TRUST. You’re seriously in for a blast… not to mention endless wedding inspiration, which is kind of the point.

This next find made me jump a little in my chair when I first saw it. Pretty much just like everything else the Wedding Chicks do. I mean, right when I think they’ve given us the best free printable ever, they come out with a little something like AIRPLANE SAVE-THE-DATES. Check it:

Want your own? Go make it, now! Oh, and you might be interested to know that they came out with another save-the-date printable, and it’s Mad Men inspired. You’re welcome.

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How ’bout some sexy lingerie? Yeah, it’s been too long since the last time I displayed a couple of near-naked bods on this here blog. The wait is over:

Alright, Happy Friday, my lovelies! I hope you thoroughly enjoyed the finds this week, and I hope you have splendid things in the works for your weekends… like relaxing, and sitting, and lying down in the grass and stuff like that. (Can you tell I’ve had a hectic week?) Speaking of chillaxing, I’m listening to this song as I write these closing remarks. It’s soothing to the nth degree. Soooooothing. In my opinion, at least. And this song is fantastic, sad sad sad, but simply fantastic.

By the way, which of today’s Fab Finds is your absolute favorite?! I’m a little bit curious. ;)

All I can think of to say is THANK YOU, Amy and Jocey! You two are helping us ramp up that pretty factor in our lives, AND saving countless trees in the process, now that we don’t have to go and carve our names in actual trees anymore! Thank goodness, because that is soooo 50s! Plus, with Earth Day ’round the corner, this is exactly the kind of thing we need.

Oooh, did I mention the color combination options? Because there are many, and they are AWESOME.

It was extremely fun to make this. Which I know sounds ridiculous, but it was, it really was.

So, want a piece of this interactive graphic action? Who am I kidding, of course you do! Click here to create your own custom heart + arrow monogram right now, over on the Wedding Chicks blog!

In the meantime, check out some photos Amy took depicting all the cool stuff you can do with your custom monogram (ideas included below: invitations, envelopes, labels, menus and table numbers):

During a sweet little stroll through Style Me Pretty‘s Style Circle, I found what my little brother commonly refers to as “really ridiculous.” Roughly translated from guyspeak, really ridiculous is defined as anything that is overwhelmingly beautiful and/or ornate… almost over the top, but not… just perfectly stunning to the fullest. Ok, that’s my best adaptation of his phrase to the world of wedding inspiration. If you haven’t deduced it yet, my brother employs the phrase in reference to women. ;)

Quick note and useful tip: all of these boards were created using Style Me Pretty’s inspiration board maker. If you’ve never used it, I URGE you to give it a try. Especially if you’ve got some wedding planning to do. It’s a great tool for any bride looking to work out her color palette, or just explore her options.

And now for my finds:

Love.love.love. these shoes. Love them.

Like those silver stunners in the lower left, up above? Here they are again, within a black and white wedding palette. Not too shabby AT ALL.

I adore the idea of putting all of your bridesmaids in the same exact heel… as long as that heel has its own very unique or playful style, like the polka dot pumps, below! Such a fab way to jazz things up and have a little fun.

OBSESSED with the next three.

By the way, you see that darling couple in the board above, in the middle, to the left? Their wedding was AH.MA.ZING. Check it out.

The little girl in me loves this board so much she wants to live in it.

This one, too.

Best thing about this board: the Charlie’s Angels pose, with bouquets standing in for firearms. Truly making peace, not war with this shot. ;)

I just really love horses. And cowboy boots. And stylish beverage glasses. And this board:

There’s a soft, mysterious beauty to this last board that I cannot get past. My eyes are glued to it.

Wait, do the horses wish they were eagles? All of them a collective eagle? I don’t get it, but I luuuurve the rest of this board, so who cares. (But I really don’t get that. Anyone? Am I just being dense?)

In other news… CANNOT WAIT to attend Wedding Salon this evening! I’m so freakin’ excited over the eye candy and inspiration that awaits me at this fabulous event. Gonna be insane in the membrane.

So, I must start off with the most important piece of news today… well, it was yesterday, but whatever here’s the news:

I’m the newest guest blogger on Style Me Pretty!!! WHAT?! I know! Abby does such a great job over there and I’m having an absolute blast being a part of all the wedding action to be had. I hope you guys like my posts going forward! Be sure to check out the first and second parts of my very first wedding feature! That is, if giant inflatable swans at an elegant backyard wedding are the kinds of things that pique your interest.

See them? See the swans? Yes, they are fake. Yes, I would have wanted to ride them, had I attended Nada and Paul’s wedding. Seriously, how did everybody resist?

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I’m completely smitten with these fabulous – and free! – desktop wallpapers that Ruche has create for our personal use and endless enjoyment. Aren’t they ridic?

I’m currently using this one:

And this next one is the spittin’ image of that super sweet e-session I featured recently on this here bloggity blog. Remember? Now you can have the same-ish background that couple had! And, depending on the size of your computer screen/your personal height, you might be able to pose in front of it for your very own e-session! Yeah, not so much. But all [totally idiotic] kidding aside, I am loving these backgrounds to death!

Crossing my fingers someone knows and decides to email me about it. Because I love it like I would my own child. That much.

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Speaking of gowns, I’m also loving J.Crew’s wedding offerings… and REALLY loving the fact that they’re finally opening up an actual bridal store so that we can all go inside of it and actually TRY ON THEIR WEDDING DRESSES. Because, really, what’s the point if we can’t try them on?

And you know how much I covet their flower girl line. Put that little lady in one of those fancy frocks, and she’ll never change out of it.

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Ok, one more thing: I saw these DIY wedding invitations here on Style Me Pretty the other day. How. Fabulous. Are. These. Invitations. How fabulous? The bride designed, cut, perforated, printed and compiled all 200 of them… herself. We should all be so committed to our goals.

Her tools: a sewing machine, paper cutter, home printer, tons of lace, ribbon for days, a crapload of pearls, and hand seals.

After experiencing Issue #1, I was itching to see what the gals of Nonpareil Magazine had in store for us with Issue #2. What’s the complete opposite of being disappointed? I am that.

Totally inspiring. Like, the definition of inspiring. A color palette so powerful it actually makes me feel good when I linger on it. Prop and set styling that make me go gaga and – icing on the cake, people – downloadable printable templates… for free.

Here, check out some more eye candy. Don’t you just want to eat up the pictures?

Yummo.

This is some good stuff, m’friends. It’s entire minutes of fun over there! (That may not seem like a compliment, but trust me, it is – and it’s a huge one at that. I normally spend seconds on all of my daily reads and the countless new discoveries I make throughout the day. So, finding something that can hold my attention for whole minutes – and many of them – is, for me, kind of a big deal.)

I had no idea… I mean, I… I never knew they were that… that she had such big… I mean – wow.

Ok, she is smoking hot. I am not as pretty as Penélope Cruz.

But I do believe you think I am, honey. Which makes it mean just as much.

xoxo

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Stay tuned, friends, because later on today I’ll have your Fab Finds – Urban Wed edition! Cakes and cuppies that’ll plum knock your socks off. I kid you not; these desserts are the prettiest and most skillfully made I’ve seen in quite some time. And a little wedding stationery action is coming your way, too. It’s gonna be delicious, cross my heart. Plus, I think I’m gonna throw in a printable freebie I love – you know, for good measure. See you in a bit!

Rachel of Jolie Jolie recently blogged about what may be one of the sweetest and most creative proposals I’ve ever seen when it comes to creativity and design. Here’s a taste:

Eeek! Don’t you love it? I suggest reading Rachel’s post, in which she describes Deny’s whole process, start to finish. It’s yet another fine example of how incredible a guy can be when love’s on his mind.

… By the way, Deny happens to be a senior designer at Larsen Interactive. So yes – very, very talented. Still, I encourage you to try this at home! ;)

First things first: are you going to the Brooklyn Bridal Fair at BAM this Sunday at 2:00pm?

Jillian (of 100 Layer Cake) will be there, among others, showing off what I suspect will be some ab-fab tablescape ideas. The ladies over at 100 Layer Cake also clued us in to a pretty sweet discount code (“bambride“) which slices 50% from the ticket price. Nice! (Get tickets.)

Speaking of the oh-so-talented Jillian, while perusing her site I clicked into what is truly a dessert table heaven, styled (OF COURSE) by Amy Atlas, and shot by Mel Barlow Photography…

And here’s a wild card photo from Mel that I just HAD to show you. SO great. Bet you wish it was yours.

Oh, wait, no she didn’t yes she did. More cupcake inspiration, comin’ atcha. This time it’s in the form of a free download from Ruffled, to create THE MOST adorable, teeny weeny pennants… for your teeny weeny treats! I just won’t be able to get over this. I won’t.

I’m freaking out over these amazing hand-lettered, blind printed save-the-dates (no, I will not call them stds) that I found over at the always inspiring Oh So Beautiful Paper, and which were created by Sam and Whitney of Gus and Ruby Letterpress. They are the definition of style and simplicity.

By the way, have I mentioned yet that I LUUUURVE engagement photos in MID-AIR? ’Cause I do. I love ‘em.

JUMP! Fooor my looooove… JUMP IN!

I also love this, by definition.

And a lil o’ this couldn’t hurt…

So good, right? All five of those above are from Sweet Little Photographs. Good stuff, and a seriously cute couple of photogs, as well.

… Speaking of couples who snap together, I just had to share this splendid little list from Heather and Grayson of Jagger Photography…

I included this total randomness today because, save for that last one, I’d say I’m pretty much on the same page as these two when it comes down to what I love (and, in the case of no. 11, what I expect I will love), especially enough to list for public consumption on the internets. Ferrets, though? Even if I had one, I don’t know that I would love it. And certainly not sufficiently enough to list the affection on my necessarily brief, highly edited ‘loves’ list. But today I’m all about celebrating differences. So case in point. Just ’cause I think ferrets are kind of icky, that doesn’t mean they are icky. Let’s hear it for personal preferences!

Love all of this...

Have you ever felt like you’ve found your long lost twin – a separated at birth, or maybe from-another-mother kinda deal – just upon reading a couple of posts on a blog that’s new to you? It’s a funny feeling, a new level of awesomeness, because it’s like finding an old friend without ever having met her.

By the way, if you haven’t already deduced that STDs stands for Save-the-Dates, well then you’re probably not planning a wedding at the moment. I must say that I have struggled with that unfortunate acronym for quite some time. I don’t care if that other thing it used to stand for is now officially known as “STI” – no matter, because it will ALWAYS denote an angry nether region to me, and I’m not really into sounding like I’m trying to put a freshly acquired infection on blast when all I’m doing is sharing some pretty wedding paper.

If these were my save-the-dates, I’d have a HECK of a time deciding on just one to send out. So I’m not shocked that she’s been facing the same issue.

Lauren, I wish you barrels of luck making a decision. You have your work cut out for you. And by the way, it’s never too late for a save-the-date as beautiful as any of these. I’d be plum delighted to receive one in the mail… even if it followed the invitation. The prettiness you’ve created here is beyond compare.